'Gentle Giant' Charles dies at 72
There will be a minute's silence at Manchester United's Premiership match with Leeds at Old Trafford today in honour of the Yorkshire club's former player John Charles, who has died at the age of 72.
John Charles: Died age 72 (JamieMcDonald/GettyImages)
The Wales, Juventus and Leeds legend, known during his playing career as `the Gentle Giant', passed away in the early hours of this morning at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield.
Players from both teams will also wear black armbands.
Charles was admitted to hospital in January after feeling unwell prior to a guest appearance on an Italian television programme.
He underwent surgery and was then flown to England by Juventus's private jet before being transferred to hospital in Yorkshire.
Charles, whose record of 42 league goals in a season for Leeds still stands as a club record, scored 93 goals in 155 matches for Juventus and achieved the notable feat of never being booked or sent off throughout his career.
He also played for Roma and Cardiff, and was equally at home at centre-half or centre-forward, even though it was for his goalscoring which he found fame.
Awarded the CBE in 2001, he won 38 caps for Wales and scored 15 goals. He played in the last Wales team to qualify for the World Cup, when he starred at the 1958 finals.
In 2002, Swansea-born Charles, who won his first cap as an 18-year-old in 1950, was made a vice-president of the Football Association of Wales.
Bob Harris, co-writer of the autobiography 'King John', said: 'The end was very peaceful around 4.30 this morning.'
It was while promoting the book in Milan on January 7 that Charles collapsed before a TV show with a heart attack. He battled against the subsequent blood and liver complications and part of his right foot had to be amputated.
Juventus paid the costs of around £14,000 when Charles and his wife Glenda were accompanied by two doctors and a nurse on the flight home to Yorkshire last Saturday. :down: